You think one semester of online school is tough? Try four years of it.
I participated in online schooling all four years of high school. When I was in 8th grade, I was taken out of public school because of my severe anxiety. I decided that it was in my best interest to do my high school education online.
When I first started online school in ninth grade, it was tough. I had no motivation to do my schoolwork. Since my mom was a stay-at-home mom, she was there to help and support me. She taught me that I needed to stay on a schedule and keep up with my work.
Over the course of my freshman and sophomore year, I tried different techniques to stay organized and motivated. I tried learning how to take notes from online courses. I tried flashcards, web note-taking and planning out my day the night before. None of those techniques really worked for me. I eventually figured out what worked best for me and stuck with it.
Writing my goals on paper really helped me succeed and stay organized. Since it helped me in high school, I have applied a similar tactic in college. Every day I write down each of my courses, what assignment is due and when. I set goals for myself to do a specific assignment on a specific day.
My first year at Cabrini was all face-to-face classes. This was a huge difference from going to sitting in my dining room doing school on a computer, to being thrown into a class setting. It was difficult at first because I was adjusting to being back in a classroom. Instead of my anxieties taking control, I flipped them around and made them into productive thoughts. I stuck with it and implemented the organizational skills I picked up from being online all four years of high school.
Although it was easy to stay organized and on top of my school work, note-taking was another story. With online schooling, I could take notes directly from the lessons and put them into my notes online. I would just copy and paste. I know it was not the smartest thing to do, but I was in high school so I was looking for the easiest route. Now that I’m in college, I don’t have the ability to pause a professor and copy and paste notes. I’ve had to quickly pick up techniques on the fly. This is where I unknowingly picked up the outlining technique of note-taking.
The outlining technique is where you create a bullet list of notes. “Every major topic of the lecture or meeting will be placed farthest to the left of the page. Subtopics will be added using an indent to the right. Each supporting fact or note is placed below the subtopic, using another indent,” the Goodnotes website said.
There are advantages and disadvantages to this style of note-taking, just like any others. What is important is that you need to find a style that specifically works best for you. There are several types such as the Cornell method, mind mapping method, flow notes method and the charting method. “There are all kinds of strategies and systems in place to be taking notes,” the Lifehack website said.
My advice for students struggling with online courses this semester is to have a good plan in place by staying organized and keeping good notes. Find what works best for you, stick with it and you’ll do great.
